


The Irony of His Affection

by Walsingham



Category: British Comedy RPF, Mock the Week RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-28 06:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2721401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walsingham/pseuds/Walsingham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed's already trying to read a confusing book, so it's easy for Chris to distract him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Irony of His Affection

   Chris carefully brought in steaming cups of tea and placed them in front of Ed, who was sitting, reading, on the couch, his bare feet curled underneath him.

   "Placemats," Ed muttered without lifting his eyes, knowing that Chris would forget them. True to form, the taller comedian hurriedly sourced two mismatching drink mats from various tables and drawers and placed the hot cups on top of them.

  "Whatcha reading?" Chris asked, settling himself down on the brown couch beside Ed and picking up his cup of Earl Grey. He blew on it gently before taking a sip, watching Ed over the rim.

   "Honestly, I'm not really sure. Some new-fangled mystery thing, but I haven't got the faintest idea what's happened," Ed replied, flipping through the pages he'd already read. He shrugged and kept reading. Chris nodded absent-mindedly, tapping his fingers on the side of the warm china. He watched as Ed's eyes flicked from side to side, line to line, of the pages with a slightly quizzical expression on his face, which slowly transformed into downright confusion as he occasionally searched back through the book like he'd missed something. Soon, Chris had nearly finished his tea, but Ed hadn't even started his.

   "I just…what?" Ed shook his head at the book, and repositioned himself so that he could lie back onto Chris, his head in his partner's lap. With a free hand, Chris stroked Ed's soft cheek as Ed tried to make sense of his book out loud.

   "Okay, so this guy got murdered by, the police think, his jealous girlfriend, but the girlfriend says that it was her uncle's brother's ex-boyfriend's roommate's sister or some shit that he was having an affair with." Chris nodded to show he was listening, so Ed continued. "That's all well and good, but then some fucker whose name I can't even pronounce has come forward saying that he stabbed the guy, even though he was shot, but then they found _him_ dead in a janitor's cupboard and you know that's really distracting right?"

   Chris grinned and looked down at the Irishman as he ran his long fingers through Ed's long hair. Ed pouted and hit him playfully with his paperback. Chris pretended to be in pain and pulled away from Ed, pretending to cradle his mangled arm.

   "Oi, I didn't say stop," Ed complained.

   "Bloody hell, you sound like a spoiled brat!" Chris laughed, teasing him. Ed craned his head back to look up at his partner's face, frowning slightly but with added puppy dog eyes, which were only magnified by his glasses.

   "Not the puppy dog eyes, anything but the puppy dog eyes!" Chris cried, feigning reluctance as he went to play with Ed's hair again. Ed stretched out on the couch, curling his toes into a pillow at the other end and nestled his head more comfortably into the British comic's lap. He dog-eared the page of his book and set it down on the coffee table beside his cold cup of tea and closed his eyes.

   "You read too many of those crime thrillers," Chris said, watching Ed's flickering eyelids.

   "Yeah, well you read too many of those mushy romance things. At least when someone comes to murder me I'll know not to do anything any of the victims did," Ed replied sleepily.

   "Do you want me to read something mushy and romancey to you? I know how much you secretly enjoy it." Chris knew how much Ed did not, even secretly, enjoy it, but he always liked to tease.

   Ed cringed, his eyes still closed. His nose wrinkled up and lines appeared along his forehead and between his eyebrows. "God help us all. The most romance I can deal with is Kirk and Spock."

   Chris smiled gently down at his significant other, the irony of Ed expressing his distaste for romance while enjoying Chris' affectionate touches not lost on him. Ed was usually the one good with irony.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Kudos + concrit always welcome!  
> xx


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